www.e-rara.ch Arctic expeditions from British and foreign shores from the earliest times to the expedition of 1875-76 Smith, D. Murray Glasgow [etc.], 1877 ETH-Bibliothek Zürich Shelf Mark: Rar 2769 Persistent Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-16305 Chapter IV. Search expedition under Captains Austin and Ommanney in the "Resolute" and "Assistance." www.e-rara.ch Die Plattform e-rara.ch macht die in Schweizer Bibliotheken vorhandenen Drucke online verfügbar. Das Spektrum reicht von Büchern über Karten bis zu illustrierten Materialien – von den Anfängen des Buchdrucks bis ins 20. Jahrhundert. e-rara.ch provides online access to rare books available in Swiss libraries. The holdings extend from books and maps to illustrated material – from the beginnings of printing to the 20th century. e-rara.ch met en ligne des reproductions numériques d’imprimés conservés dans les bibliothèques de Suisse. 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Son statut juridique et ses conditions d'utilisation sont précisés dans sa notice détaillée. Pour de plus amples informations, voir [Link] Condizioni di utilizzo Questo documento può essere scaricato gratuitamente. Il tipo di licenza e le condizioni di utilizzo sono indicate nella notizia bibliografica del singolo documento. Per ulteriori informazioni vedi anche [Link] AUSTIN'S EXPEDITION. 517 CHAPTER IY . SEARCH EXPEDITION UNDER CAPTAINS AUSTIN AND OMMANNEY IN THE “ RESOLUTE” AND “ ASSISTANCE.” Though the Government in 1850 wisely resolved to enlist the knowledge and experience of the chief of the whaling captains of the period in the search for Franklin , Penny ’s expedition in the “ Lady Franklin ” and “ Sophia ” was regarded as merely supplementary to the great naval expedi¬ tion sent out under Captains Austin and Ommanney in the same season. Horatio Thomas Austin entered the navy in 1813, served in the American war under Hardy , and gained fruitful experience of Arctic navigation when serving as first lieutenant in the “ Fury ” (Commander Hoppner ) in Parry ’s third Arctic voyage in 1824-25. Recommended for Arctic service by his old captain , Sir Edward Parry , Austin was appointed to the command of the great expedition of 1850, consisting of four vessels—the “ Resolute ” and “ Assistance ,” with their tenders , the “ Pioneer ” and “ Intrepid ,” both screw steamers . The “ Resolute ” and “ Assistance ” were sailing ships rigged as barques , the former 410 tons and the latter 430 tons burthen , and each car¬ rying sixty officers and men. The steamers “ Pioneer ” and “ Intrepid ” were sister vessels of 400 tons , with screw propellers of 60 horse -power , and rigged as three -masted schooners . Captain Austin , the commander of the expedition , hoisted his flag in the “ Resolute ,” and was supported by Captain Erasmus Ommanney in the “ Assistance ; ” the “ Pioneer ” was commanded by Lieutenant Sherard Osborn , and the “ Intrepid ” by Lieutenant J . B. Cator . This expedition , the most complete and effective that had ever left the British shores for the Arctic seas, was fully provisioned for three years. The ships sailed from England on the 3d May 1850, passed Cape Wrath on the 15th, and after a prosperous voyage across the Atlantic , reached the Whalefish Islands , to the south of Disco, on the 16th June . Resuming the voyage on the 25th, the ships proceeded northward past Disco and Upper - navik . Writing on the following day, the 26th, Sherard Osborn, com¬ mander of the “ Pioneer ,” thus reports progress : “ In the first watch , the ‘Lady Franklin ’ and ‘Sophia ’ were seen by us fast between loose flat pieces, 518 THE FRANKLIN SEARCH —IMNol . to seaward of which we continued to flirt. The ‘Intrepid ’ and ‘Pioneer ’ were now to be seen trying their bows upon every bit of ice we could get near without getting into a scrape with our commodore, and from the ease with which they cut through the rotten stuff" around our position , I already foresaw a fresh era in Arctic voyaging, and that the fine bows would soon beat the bluffs out of the field.” On the 1st July , Captain Austin signalled the screw steamers to “ take ships in tow.” There was a lane of open water leading northward , “ and ,” says Osborn , “ with a leaping heart we entered the lead, having the ‘Pesolute ’ fast by the nose with a six-inch hawser . What looked impassable at ten miles distance ,” continues the commander of the steamer , “ was an open lead when close to. Difficulties vanish when they are faced, and the very calm which rendered the whalers unable to take advantage of a loose pack was just the thing for steamers . Away we went past berg, past floe, winding in and out quietly yet steadily , and the whalers were soon astern . Penny , the inde¬ fatigable , was seen struggling along the shore with his boats ahead, towing , and every stitch of sail set to catch the slightest cat ’s-paw ; we soon passed him too. The water ahead increased as we advanced , and we found, as is well known to be the case, that the pack-edge is always the tightest part of it.” The neighbourhood of Devil ’s Thumb was reached on the 4th July , and on Sunday the 7th, Lieutenant Osborn entertained Captain Stewart of the whaler “ Joseph Green,” to dinner in the “ Pioneer .” Captain Stewart , father of the commander of the “ Sophia ” in Penny ’s expedition , was a most interesting personage in the eyes of the officers of the “ Pioneer .” His racy sketches of life on board a whaler were in no small degree fascinating to his naval hearers , and it was not without a certain degree of awe that they gazed upon a man who assured them that “ he had not seen corn grow, nor eaten fresh gooseberries , for thirty years ! although he had been at home every winter .” He was now advanced in years, yet he spoke with the enthu¬ siasm of youth about the excitement and the perils of his calling. “ We are the only people ,” he said, “ who follow the whale and kill him in spite of the ice and cold.” Osborn was proud to recognise a brother seaman in such a hardy and gallant old sportsman of the deep. “ This worthy old Scottish fisherman ,” Osborn informs us, “ perished next year off Spitzbergen . His ship was caught between two fields of ice, and as she was sinking , he rushed down to save a sick sailor, and sank with the ship that had so long been his home.” The power and value of steam in ice-navigation was clearly demonstrated for the first time in the expedition under consideration . When the whalers found it impossible to advance , Osborn and Cator, in the “ Pioneer ” and “ Intrepid ,” were always able to make some progress . They charged floes six inches thick , and pushed , without apprehension , into old and decayed ice of PO WER OF STEAM AMONG ICE. 519 much greater thickness . After charging an ice-barrier ineffectually, they reversed the engines, drew back a short distance , and then , putting on full steam , rushed forward again to deliver a second blow—often with the desired effect. The whalers were all delighted with the performance of the steam vessels in the ice ; and it was acknowledged that the employment of the screw propeller marked the commencement of a new era in Arctic naviga¬ tion. Captain Penny candidly confessed that he never thought the screw steamers would have answered so well, and regretted that he had not had a steam vessel. “ Our seamen,” says Osborn , on the lltli July , “ fully appreciated the good service the screw had done them ; they had now been eleven days in the ice, during every day of which period they had witnessed it working effectually under every circumstance . They had seen the crews of the whalers labouring at the track -line, at the oar, and in making and shortening sail, both by day and by night , whilst our crews had nothing to do beyond taking the ships in tow and casting them off again.” But the ships referred to, the “ Resolute ” and “ Assistance ,” were wretched sailers. They had been filled up with dead wood—by way of strengthening them against the ice—until they lay like logs on the water , and, even under fairly favourable conditions , could not be dragged by the steamers at a rate much quicker than three knots an hour . Being thus heavily handicapped , Osborn and Cator found that they worked under great disadvantages , and that the whalers , which were handled with the utmost skill and daring by Penny and his fellow captains , made as rapid progress as the captains of the naval squadron . But for being hampered with the “ Resolute ” and “ Assist¬ ance,” the steam vessels might have made a comparatively early passage northward , between the sea and land ice of Melville Bay. As it was, they were continually delayed and exposed to the danger of being nipped in the enclosing ice. Between the 20tli and 31st July , only seven miles had been made in the right direction .